


Trouble

by Jazzminehunter



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Experimentation, F/M, Keith (Voltron) Has Issues, M/M, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Paranormal, They're all dorks that are going to get themselves killed, Vampire Allura (Voltron), Vampire Hunters, Vampire Keith (Voltron), Vampire Shiro (Voltron), Witches, shiro adopts keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-13 11:04:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19249912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jazzminehunter/pseuds/Jazzminehunter
Summary: Junior year of college is supposed to be about figuring out your life.  It's supposed to be about finding a career path, making long-lasting friendships, and making sure your GPA is high enough to get into grad school. It is not supposed to involve vampires or underground power struggles but when a vampire civil-war comes to your town that's what your junior year ends up being.





	1. The Woods Aren't That Fun

**Author's Note:**

> No one asked for this. But I'm totally writing it anyway. In all seriousness, this story has been on my mind for at least 2 years and I'm finally getting it on paper and posting it on a whim at 3:20 in the morning. I don't know exactly where this is going but I do have a few definite plot points planned out. Please let me know what you of this first chapter and I'm going to try to update every 2 to 3 weeks. If I keep myself on an update schedule * fingers crossed*. If you have a better title in mind because I hate the current one, please let me know.  
> If you want to yell at me, you can do so in the comment section or @mintchocolatcookie on Tumblr  
> Enjoy!

He should be relaxing after a busy week at work, out having actual fun. It was a Friday, early enough in the school year that he didn’t have to worry about assignments yet. So in why the hell was he running through the godforsaken forest on the edge of town. because fuck his life that’s why. He kept his flashlight pointed at the ground, trying desperately not to trip as he jumped over overgrown roots and downed branches. His chest burned, how long had he been running. He should be back at the cars by now, right? Something yellow and glowing flashed in corner of his eye. His back burned as a hand pushed him hard. He heard a giggle as he hit the ground hard and pushed himself back to his feet because fuck yeah he was about to die but he wasn’t about to make it easier for it. She? Them? He was pretty sure that giggle was from a girl. He was also sure there was more than one chasing him. His legs burned. his knees ached from the fall, his back was wet and burned and Lance was pretty sure he was bleeding. Why couldn’t they have gotten to the movies like normal people.

\-----------------  
__

_The wind and blew him into the student center’s glass doors and make a mockery of the blue windbreaker he’d thrown on this morning. The weather had turned colder than he’d expected. The rain beat a drum’s rhythm onto the windows as he walked to the cafeteria. The lights are bright and the cafeteria loud and full of people who’d usually be somewhere else. Most of the tables were taken and at first, Lance thought he was the first one there but he saw Hunk and Pidge sitting in the corner. He ordered a burger and fries at the burger joint before sitting down. Hunk was a tall man: he outweighed most people. All muscle and fat hidden under dark skin, his hair was neck length, neat and black. He usually was smiling but wasn’t today. Pidge was much smaller than both of them. Large round eyes stared at her computer screen from behind large thin-rimmed glasses. Her light brown hair was kept short, messy, and framing her face._

__

_“How’s it hanging?” they returned his greeting absentmindedly. “Dude, you alright?” He asked Hunk, who had three different textbooks spread on the table and frantic flipping through them. “Huh? No, I’m not. It's only the second week and I swear Professor Iverson is trying to kill us.” He leaned back “I need a break.” He sighed_

__

__

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_Pidge looked up and smiled like a Cheshire cat. “Well if you need a break..” She pulled her bag up from the floor and dug around until she pulled out a newspaper with a bright red banner. Lance sighed, taking a bite out of his burger. “They haven’t gone out of business yet?” “No, they haven’t yet.” The paper she spread the table was the latest issue of the “Weekly Reporter” it was a locally ran paper for those in the Seattle area who regularly wear tin hats. On the front page was an article about the woods on the edge town and trend of weird shit happening. There were grainy photos on the front page. One looked like a person if you squint and tilt your head. The other was unrecognizable. Below the picture was a warning about graphic images on the next page. Lance didn’t turn the page. Hunk looked at it then back at Pidge “You aren’t serious are you?”_

____

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_“Of course I am!” She started to open the newspaper “You should read the article, it's really..” but Hunk placed his hand on top of her “No. No thank you” Pidge rolled her eyes._

_____ _

__

_____ _

_“Anyway... I was thinking about going there tonight if the rain clears. Wanna go?” She asked, the grin on her face only growing larger. She was really into this._

_“Um no.” Hunk said.”Pidge, that sounds insane.”_

_______ _ _ _

__

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_“Oh come on. It’ll be fun.”_

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__

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_“Pidge, we have different definitions of the word fun. C’mon its a Friday night. Let’s play video games, see a movie or something.” He popped a fry into his mouth “Or better yet. You’re 18 now. Let's go out on the town, pick up some chicks.”_

_________ _ _ _ _ _

__

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_Pidge raise an eyebrow “No.” She sighed, “Fine, I'll just go by myself.”_

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__

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_“Please don’t make call your family to tell them something happened to you. Please..” Hunk whined_

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__

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_“Nothing is going to happen to me. And I thought you didn’t believe in the stuff in ‘The real world’. What could happen at the hands of imaginary creatures?” She teased_

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__

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_“Uh huh I’m not talking about the moth man or Bigfoot. I’m worried about bears or mountain lions. You know things that might actually be out in those woods and that might actually eat you’”_

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__

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_Pidge sat back in her chair, “There aren’t any mountain loins in Midland’s woods.”_

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__

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_“Says you!”_

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__

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_“Guys!” he interjected, “How about this we’ll go exploring with you but afterward we’ll do something little closer our” He gestured to Hunk and himself with his index finger“ of fun. Maybe we’ll catch a movie or something. Besides you wouldn’t tell us if you did really want us to come.” Pidge looked down, grumbled “Sure, whatever.” her ears a little red._

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__

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_“That cool with you Hunk?”_

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

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“Yeah. Just know if I die tonight, I’m coming back to haunt the both of you.”

_________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

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_“You’re not gonna die.”_

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__

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“Says you.”

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__

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_They decide to meet after Hunk got off work, around 7:00. After lunch, Pidge had another class and Hunk head off to work, so Lance decided to go to the library to kill some time and start researching for an assignment. The library wasn’t too packed today, so it wasn’t too much of a big deal when there was someone already sitting in his favorite spot. The problem was with who’d taken his spot. The guy was from his Stats class. An annoying know-it-all with pale skin, dark eyes and shiny dark hair cut into a mullet of all things. Okay, so Lance knew it wasn’t a mullet. He just called it that to irritate him. It usually works. Maybe he'll go over there now. Lance concerned that for a moment, glaring at him but the guy didn’t even look up from his laptop and Lance decided it wasn’t worth it. He found another seat, the chair was bight yellow and almost comfortable as his favorite was but the outlet didn’t work. He left at 6:00, took the bus back to his apartment to pick up his car. His car was smaller than he would have liked: used with paint chipping in places but it was still mostly new to him and it was his favorite color which he promptly named her after. Hunk was waiting outside the Diner when he pulled up which was good because there was never anywhere to park off campus._

___________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

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_“Any chance she changed her mind?” He asked by way of greeting._

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__

____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Lance snorted “Have you ever known her to change her mind? Like on anything?”_

_____________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

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_Hunk signed softy_

______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“Dude, if you don't want to come, you don’t have to.”_

_______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

_______________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“Yeah. Yeah, I do. I can't let the two of you walk into the woods at night without me. You know the rules: if we do something stupid, we do it together.”_

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“Aw you really do care.”_

_________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

_________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“Of course I do,” he says reaching over to hug him. Lance leaned into him for a moment, not taking his hands off the steering wheel, they leaned away at the same time. The car fell into a comfortable silence. Hunk broke it “Can I just point out that this feels like the premise of a horror movie.”_

__________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

__________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Lance laughed._

___________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

___________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_The city of Midland shared its forest with Ashfort, the next city over, and open wilderness that might even lead into Canada. Lance really wasn't sure but he knew it was big. Pidge sat on the ground by her moped. She smiled as the car pulled up. “Bout time you showed up.” She said as they stepped out of the car._

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Um some of us have lives Pidge.” Lance said pausing to grab his cellphone from the front seat, sliding it into the back pocket of his jeans.

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

She looked at him “I hope you aren’t talking about yourself.”

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Rude!”

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Guys..”Hunk interjected, gesturing toward the forest.

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“Right.” Pidge slid her book bag off, pulled out three flashlights and handed them off._

___________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__

___________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_“You guys ready?” she asked walking towards the edge of the trees._

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__

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___“Not even a little bit. “Hunk answered. “Oh we’ll be fine.” he said._ __

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He realized after they found a bunch of banged up trees that his cellphone was no longer in his back pocket. Lance didn’t tell them when he turned back to look for it, after all, he couldn’t have dropped it too long ago. He’d catch up. Oh yeah, he was feeling really fucking stupid. All the trees looked the same in the dark so much so he couldn’t even find his way back to the broken ones. And that was before he’d been scared shirtless by the strange glowing yellows eyes following him in each direction. At first, he’d mistaken the light for his friends but the lights, the eyes, were moving too fast to be them. Oh god, he hoped Hunk and Pidge were okay. Hoped they weren’t running for their lives like he was. He tripped again and almost dropped his flashlight. The light flashed over a smiling face with glowing eyes and fangs standing way too close. Lance screamed, jumping back, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. The girl in front of him pouted, reaching for him with no real effort, before giggling like she was insane. She took slow crouching steps towards him.

_____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“C’mon..” He backed up into a tree, “Can’t we talk about this?”

_____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

“Talk?” She blinked incredulously, pointy teeth still on display, “Why would we want to talk to you”. Her eyes drift behind him. He looked back too, well as much as he could while trying to keep the woman in front of him in his field of vision. He could barely see the pair of gold eyes far in the distance, still and watching. He swallowed hard, turning his attention back to the one in front of him. “Why?..”He cracked a shaky smile “Cuz I’m n..nothing if not entertaining.”

_____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

She laughed. “That you are.” Her voice was a purr, then moving faster than he could see, she was pressing her chest into his with all her weight, pinning him to the tree. She was smaller than he thought, stronger than she looked.“Get off!”He tried pushing her off hands on her bare shoulders. Her skin was icy to the touch. She forced his arms to his side, knocking the flashlight to the forest floor. It blinked out. She buried her face in the side of his neck, the ghost of her teeth brushing his skin as she mouthed her way up to his ear, her breath was as cold as her skin. “So very entertaining. And very smooth too.” Then she goes rim rod stiff leaning back from him, the second made a noise loud and shrill like she was in pain. There was a flash of bight blue eyes, glowing like there was fire behind them before the woman head tipped off her neck. Her body collapsed into ash.

_____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

For a moment, Lance couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, all he could do was stare at the men standing in front of him holding blades; one was much longer than the other. Lance couldn’t see him clearly but from the outline of his too long hair and familiar built he could have sworn that was Keith from Statics. When the blue eyes pass over him, they glared “What are you doing Idiot? Run.”. Ok, he was sure it was Keith. The sound of his sneer breaks whatever spell he was under. Keith wasn’t in front of him anymore, he’d charged pass him to meet the second. Lance looked back. He couldn’t see anything but two pairs of eyes but he could hear them. Snarls and growls no person could make and the sound blades clashing. He pushed himself away from the tree and looking back once more, Lance ran in the opposite direction.

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He felt like crap for that, for leaving Keith like that, but he kept running. As fast as he could with absolutely no idea where he was going. He heard the trees rustling a few feet away from him. Lance froze, feet digging into the earth. He held as still as he could even though it felt like his heart was still running. Was that another one. It could be Keith. The movement gets louder, closer, lights shine a moment before Hunk and Pidge came crashing through the trees like a freight train flying off the rails. And for a moment Lance was as happy as he’d ever been. His friends were safe, alive. Hunk looked like he was shaking and Pidge looked pale as a ghost but holy shit they were alive. Pidge caught sight of him “What are you doing?!” Um, what was he doing...Right running for his life. They streak passed him, looking back, he followed behind them until they ran through the line of trees that separate the road from the forest.

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It didn’t feel like they’d stop running until they were in Blue driving down the main road like a bat outta hell. Pidge was driving in front of him. The car was quiet for the longest moment, filled with nothing but their heavy breathing. “Lance...You’re bleeding.” He says, his voice close to a whisper. And he was; besides the burning scratches on his back, his cheek was wet and hot. He didn’t remember being hit in the face but he did almost slam into a few trees while running for his life so it could have happened then. He swallowed, feeling the pain in his legs more intensely than ever before. “yeah.. but I’m okay though.” Hunk doesn’t respond to that immediately. Instead, he pulls out his phone, dials. Pidge picks up before the phone can ring once.

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“Are you okay? What happened?” She almost had over the rush of wind assaulting the mic in her helmet. “I’m fine.” Lance says without really thinking about it, “just a few scrapes.”

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“How’d you get separated from us?” Hunk asked, sitting the phone on the dashboard. 

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“I...um...I dropped my phone and went back to find it. I couldn’t find my way back.”

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“Dude,” Hunk pauses, biting his lip. It's the expression he makes when he’s debating saying something. “That was really dumb,” he says frankly. Lance whines “I know. I know, not one of my brightest moments.” He looked at the phone to Pidge, zooming in forth of them. She’s been awfully quiet.

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“Umm Pidge? You alright up there” He asked. 

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“Yeah, yeah I just..I’m sorry guys. I’m so so sorry. This was all my fault.” She sounds out of breath.

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“Pidge. Pidge, it's okay. it’s okay” Hunk kept his voice calm “We’re all right. We are all right.”

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“Yeah, man. No harm no foul and besides” Lance smiles, even though Pidge can't see it “I need the cardio.” No one speaks for a long moment. “so what happened? You two get attacked too?”

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“Yeah.” Pidge said Hunk nods “There were four of them: with glowing yellow eyes and serrated teeth.“

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“They didn’t have shark teeth,” Pidge says, “They had elongated canines.”

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“Whatever they had, they surrounded us and threaten to eat us.”

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“How’d you escape?” Lance asked, had Keith saved them too.

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“Well just as they were about to attack, this guy with glowing blue eyes grabs us, tells us to run. So we did.”

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“What did he look like?”

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“I don’t know.”Hunk said. “I wasn’t really paying attention to what he looked like.”

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“I think I knew him..” Pidge said.

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“You did?” Hunk asked 

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“I think I know the guy who saved me too.” Lance says quietly, “Guys, we have vampire hunters at our school.” He says, awed.

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“Dude, we have crazy people hunting other crazy people in our town.” Hunk didn’t sound nearly as excited as he did. Pidge stayed silent.

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They eventually decided to go back to his apartment. “Where’s your first aid kit?” Hunk asked as soon as he steps through the door. “Bathroom. Medicine cabinet.” He responses, setting keys down before flicking on the lights. Pidge inhales sharply and he realizes she hadn’t seen the scratches or the bruises. Her face crumbles into guilt and guilt settled in his stomach. He didn't know what to say, so for once he shut up and followed Hunk though the apartment making sure he didn’t show just how much his legs were hurting. They watch movies after Hunk cleaned his cuts; he was good at it so Lance really hoped the cut on his face didn’t scar. The one, or rather the three, on his back, were deeper, so they probably would.

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Normaliztion was on the agenda. The conversions forced themselves away from anything that had anything to do with woods, crypts, or vampires. Since no has eaten dinner, they ordered take-out. They watched movies and play video games and Hunk made cookies. Lance wasn’t sure when he’d fallen asleep but sometime after dawn Pidge shook him awake to lock the door behind her.

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	2. Well that was dumb of her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thanks for reading. Thank you to anyone who left kudos and huge Thank you to KatelynKnight. I survive on feedback.
> 
> Enjoy!

         Pidge woke up the next morning, just before the sun rose. She had not had a good night, and the worst part about it was that it was all her fault. There was only so much human error and bad luck she comes out on her end and last night had exponentially surpassed that threshold. She could barely look Lance in the eye when she asked him to let her out of his apartment. Instead, her eyes drifted to the bandage taped over his left cheek. Both Lance and honks all her out and they didn't even sing mad about it. Which wasn't something she could understand. Like fucking hell. Lance had bled to investigate some strange shit. If she were them, she'd be pissed. But instead, they just seemed worried about her leaving so early. Alone.

          Maybe she should be worried too. Campus was sparsely populated and silent this early in the morning on a Saturday. Every shadow and every movement she spotted out of the corner of her eye made her drive faster. She swiped into her building and climb the stairs to her dorm. She marched in without turning on any lights, through her bag on the floor and herself on her bed face first. She shifted, attorney so she could see her closet door covered and newspaper clippings and both typed and handwritten notes. She glared at it, wishing she could burn it all. Why didn't you stick the posters? Instead, she had notes. Information meticulously organized from local to International. Supernatural to human corruption. She had worked tirelessly to find information on everything from werewolves and Mothman to the illegal activities of government officials and Vrepit Sa Corporation.

 

        She should tear it all down. Not was right, this shit was dangerous. She had known that. She liked the danger. The potential threats. Even if none of it was real, the idea was exciting. But Lance and hunk. They didn't ask for any of it. She's invited them. They only came to keep her safe and she could have gotten them hurt. Did get Lance hurt. Her stomach curled in on itself and exhaustion weight her down into the bed. She'd it all down tomorrow and delete the stuff on her computer too.

        Pidge closed her eyes. In all the chaos, she never really had the time to think about it. What really happened. So she did that, put herself back to Sunset last night. To the line of trees that led into the woods.

\-------------

_The smell of pine needles, mud, and rain made her nose wrinkled as they walked into the woods. It was about 7:20 p.m. and not fully dark yet. Rays of sunlight breaking through the tree's canopy. They stepped over large branches and leaves and pine needles not making nearly as much noise as she thought they would. Even as she climbed over large knobby roots and broken branches that stuck out of the floor they passed the circle of trees that looked like someone had taken a Jack Hammer to them. She stopped by one of the more damaged ones, with long claw marks a text into the wood, so deep the wounds still bled sap._

 

"Cool," she breathed, holding her flashlight up so she could see better.

  


_" What did this?" Lance got really close, leaning over her and blocking her light. It was getting darker now._

  


_"Dude, back up." She said then thought better of it. "No! Wait never mind. Come back here."_

  


_"Some wild animal like a bear or something." Hunk said, answering Lance's question. His voice shook slightly._

  


_"I don't think so." She took Lance's hand. "Lance, make a claw shape." She told him, imitating what she wanted him to do. He did what she said and she dragged his hand inches above the deep scratches. They were about the same size, maybe a little smaller. Maybe they had werewolves instead of vampires. Smiling, she took out her camera and took pictures of all the damage branches and clawed up trees._

 

  


"Great! Can we go now" Hunk asked

  


_"No, let's keep going"_

  


  


_"C'mon man, just a bit further." Lance plead._

  


_They continued, walking deeper into the forest. It had gotten a lot darker, still not quite full dark but they need to keep the flashlights pointed at the ground to keep from tripping. Soon they'll be turning back whether she wanted to or not. Her flashlight reflected off of something. She bent down, reaching for it. It was a knife of all things; large and closest to what she imagined a dagger would look like, heavy with a silver glint and a well-worn handle. The blade had what she thought was rust crusted on it. But the color was off. Too dark. Has someone bled on this? She ran a finger lightly on the sharpest part. It was sharp enough to cut. Hunk stopped beside her until he saw what she was doing and then he backed up._

 

  


"Be careful with that" he scolded her.

  


_" Geez, I will." She realized something, Lance wasn't with them anymore. "Dude, where's Lance?" Hunk spun around to look behind him._

  


_"He was right behind me"_

  


_"Lance!" She called out, there was no response. Hunk was already pulling out his phone. She slipped off her backpack to put the knife in._

  


_"We should head back." He said when Lance didn't answer the call. She didn't argue._

  


_They continue to call out for him as they made their way back to the car. She dialed his number more than once in each time it went straight to voicemail. She kept the flashlight pointing down, just to keep from falling on the uneven ground but it seems to do less and less. The night seems alive, moving and breathing on its own. It felt like it was suffocating the light from a flashlight. They weren't quite back to the damaged trees when Hunk stopped walking. She nearly bumped into him._

  


_"Um...Pidge?" His voice was soft as he pointed a little ways away. Two very small lights were watching them. Two eyes were watching them. Glowing gold eyes. They shined the lights in that direction only for the eyes to disappear._

  


_"Ookaay.what wa..."_

  


_"Nope! We're leaving!"_

  


_"Hunk!" She pointed in front of them. Two pairs of golden eyes stare back at them a little closer than the first pair._

  


_"Aww," A voice cooed behind them. "There's not enough for all of us." It whined. Pidge turn so that her back was the Hunk's. There were two more pairs behind them. She flashed the lights at them. A man and a woman, both on the slender side. They looked pretty normal except for the glowing yellow eyes_

  


_“_ _What are you talkin’ about?” A voice from in front of Hunk purred, “the big one’s enough to feed us for days” the man in front of her smiled, showing large white fangs. She felt Hunk stiffen, “I don’t know who you are but this is not funny!” Her voice sounded more confident than she actually felt. The woman disappeared, reappearing beside her. She shoved Pidge into a tree hard enough to send her vision swimming for a moment. Hunk was beside her, pulling her off the ground and out of the closing circle of what might have been normal people fucking with them but were probably vampires about to rip their throats out._

  


_"You're wrong, human." The woman smiled a giddy shark tooth smile. "We think this is hilarious." With each word, she took a step closer. The rest approached slowly, crouched low like predators preparing to pounce. She and Hunk stepped back. They could run but something in her bones told her they wouldn't get far. Besides she'd rather see the pounce, see the strike the would leave her bleeding out on the forest floor. Hunk may have thought so too because he made no move to run either. Or maybe he couldn't move. She didn't know._

  


_The woman closest to her pulled back her lips, her expression turning from a smile into a snarl, teeth glistening in the flashlight before barreled forward. Something, someone came down from the trees. He landed in front of them. "Run!" The figure yelled as his foot colliding with the women in front of them._

  


Pidge pulled her pillow into her chest. She and Hunk turned and ran as fast as they could. They'd found Lance bleeding, running for his life in the same direction as them. Snarls. The sound of metal on metal ring through the trees and guilt curled in her gut as she looked back. He was fighting four people. The light from her flashlight shining on an absolutely brutal fight behind them. She stopped just in time to see the man drive a long blade through the chest of another. He turned to meet another head-on. And she saw his face. That was Takashi Shirogane. Her fucking G.A. Takashi Shirogane.

  


Pidge laid there in her bed trying to think of another explanation, one that made sense. Of course, she didn't get a good look and him. They were too far away for her to get a good look. And her mind probably added familiar features to make light of an unfamiliar situation. Yeah, that's it. that was totally it.

  


The rest of the weekend was uneventful. She did homework and only left her room to eat at the commons and not after dark. Saturday morning after she woke up, she tore her notes and newspaper clippings off her closet. She hesitated over the files on her computer. That was some of her best work right there. Eventually, she took the files from her computer to a hard drive and stashed away in one of her suitcases. Out of sight, out of mind hopefully. Matt called later that day. Their conversation was forced and weird. Like he rehearsed it.

"Are you okay?" He asked when the conversation lulled.

  


"Yeah, I'm fine." She answered a little too fast.

  


"I...uh heard about the people going missing in Seattle and Ashford. I just wanted to know you're safe." Of course, he did. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I'm cool and before you start, I'm staying on campus."

"Be careful going out after dark, okay.

  


"I will. Jeez"

  


The conversation lulled again and it was awkward, "I'm coming to see you and some friends in November."

  


"Cool. Where are you staying?"

  


"With some friends from undergrad. I'll talk to you later. Promise me you'll be safe alright pigeon?"

  


"I will. Hang up already."

 

Sunday, when the sun was high in the sky, she finally left her room to eat. On the way to the commons, she passed the campus newspaper stands. Only four were used, all of them dingy and broken. Against her better judgment, she paid $0.50 for her usual Sunday tabloid, the Weekly Reporter. It was a special edition this week, with the word 'important' pasted on the front cover in blue bold lettering.  


She read while she ate, this issue was thin. Mostly updating previous articles or articles posted on the online forms. But there was one article that wasn't online the weekly reporter was closing. After 6 years of consistent publication, next week's issue would be the last. The company was citing financial problems which was crap. But the paper was having money issues, one of the mods would have posted about it. She pulled up the website on her phone. There was a blog post there too, saying that wants to company closed there would be no more updates the website. She narrowed her eyes at the article then put the phone down and went back to eating.  


Monday, she got nervous. She went to all her classes including the one Takashi taught on Wednesday. She spent Tuesday worrying about Wednesday. Wednesday, she really thought about skipping after all her professor wouldn't be there and she can afford to miss a few classes. She could, in theory, put off this confrontation indefinitely. She’d just have to miss every second Wednesday for the next 3 months. But she dragged herself into the lecture hall anyway. The class was still mostly empty. What few students had gotten there early we're at the front near the whiteboards and Takashi. He smiled the same professional smile he gave everyone else and then to her immense relief nothing else. He went back to his conversation and she went to her seats near the back of the class. Class was uneventful. They had a short lecture. Assigned reading from Monday. And a test next Wednesday. Takashi dismiss them early. As the class empty and she rushed to the exit, she almost wondering why she was worried the class emptied and she rushed to the exit.  


“Ms. Holt, a moment please.” Fuck, that’s why. She turned back to the front of the class and when everyone else was gone he leaned against the desk at the front of the room looking down his scarred nose at her, suddenly serious.

  


  


"Are you and your friends okay?" He asked. Pidge schooled her face neutral even after stomach sank.

  


She kept her mouth shut. " I understand what happened Friday was traumatic but we need to talk about it.

  


" Actually we don't.”

  


He looked disappointed, “Yes, we do. Pretending Friday didn’t happen won't change the fact that it did.”

  


“You’re right. It happened and I don’t want any part of it from this point on. So thank you for saving our asses and thank you for leaving us out of it.” She turned and started back towards the exit.

  


“Katie, this is for your safety. And if you don’t care about yourself, you should care about your friends, Hunk Garret and Lance McClain.” She turned back eyes narrowing.

 

“Have you been to the Cat’s cradle. It’s a cafe a little... ”   


“I know what it is.” The cafe was halfway between Seattle and campus and looked cat themed. “Tomorrow, I’ll get a private table around one and we can discuss what happened. By we, I mean Lance and Hunk too.”   


“And if we don’t show up?”  


Takashi’s face went neutral, “That would not be wise.”  


“Fine. Can I go now?”  


He nodded.  


Pidge bolted up the stairs and out of the room before he finished the movement. She didn’t stop running until she was out of the arts and science building and standing at the bus stop. She slid her phone out of her pocket, opening the Hunk’s and Lance’s group chat.  


“ **Guys, we have a problem.”**

 

  



End file.
